This application is a proposal is in response to PA-09-231 for a one-day conference on Pediatric Quality Improvement Methods, Research and Evaluation. The meeting will focus on research design and methodology. Specifically, this conference will focus on methodological and technical issues of major importance in the field of quality improvement and health services research. Speakers and participants will focus on barriers and facilitators to the development and design of state-of-the-art methodologies and research methods for healthcare quality improvement research (e.g., cluster or group randomized controlled trials;quasi-experimental approaches such as interrupted time series, pre-post studies;approaches to understanding context and implementation processes and understanding variations in results across interventions and settings, etc.) This program is intended to complement and promote AHRQ's core research and implementation activities by providing a mechanism for Agency stakeholders and others to (1) develop health services research agendas and identify strategies and mechanisms for studying them, (2) discuss and develop consensus around health services research methodological and technical issues, (3) disseminate and implement health services research information and tools for evaluating health care delivery, and (4) improve quality and effectiveness of health care. To ensure broad attendance, we will schedule the meeting one day before the 2011 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting (April 29, 2011). The conference will be sponsored by the Academic Pediatric Association (APA), the professional home for academic general pediatrics. Participants will include key leaders from the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the National Initiative for Child Health Quality (NICHQ).Products of the meeting with include referred papers related to methodologic issues in pediatric quality improvement, which will be disseminated through the Academic Pediatric Association website and appropriate publications. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Despite the recognized need for quality improvement in pediatric care, there are gaps in current methodologies for understanding if current innovations are truly effective in improving care. The purpose of this meeting is to disseminate and advance state-of-the-art research methods for healthcare quality improvement research (e.g., cluster or group randomized controlled trials;quasi-experimental approaches such as interrupted time series, pre-post studies;approaches to understanding context and implementation processes and understanding variations in results across interventions and settings, etc.). The meeting would further develop the science and common language of pediatric quality improvement research.